Troy Buswell Has Resigned As Treasurer Of Western Australia After A 'Breakdown'

Troy Buswell has resigned his position as Treasurer of Western Australia, Premier Colin Barnett announced today.

Buswell has been on personal leave after reports of a traffic accident that occurred after he was at a wedding where witnesses saw him drinking.

“It was clear that troy was not in a good place, very emotional, very apologetic,” Barnett said of his discussions with the controversial state MP.

Barnett told reporters that Buswell was admitted to a hospital in Perth, before travelling to a clinic in Sydney.

While he is no longer in hospital, it became clear his absence would be longer than originally expected, Barnett said. He said it appeared Buswell had suffered “a breakdown”.

The premier said he became aware of the incident after the wedding at “about 2pm yesterday”, and that Buswell “had already made the decision to resign from cabinet because of his health” when he called the Premier on Monday.

A witness has told The West Australian about seeing a white Holden Capris hit the gate outside Buswell’s home on the night in question. Smoke was coming from the car’s spinning wheels.

Buswell has previously admitting to sniffing a female staffer’s chair and having an affair with a Greens MP.

Police have confirmed they attended the incident on Sunday, February 23. Buswell missed a scheduled cabinet meeting the next day and then took personal leave.

He “did not have much recollection” of the incident with the car and could not offer any reasonable explanations for what happened, the premier said.

Buswell resigned in 2008 as leader of the Liberal Party after admitting he sniffed the chair of a female staff member and snapped the bra of a Labor staffer.

In 2010, he stepped down as treasurer after allegations he used public funds to arrange meetings with then lover and Greens MP Adele Carles. He was cleared of those allegations.